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I just bought a new 110 cc Honda motorcycle. It's waay underpowered, so I spend a lot of time at wide open throttle.

Being brand new, this seems likely to cause damage. The manual recommends not to push it for the first 500 km.

What's the best way around this? Can I let it idle for a long time, do I have to bite the bullet and ride slooow, or is there no real cause for concern?

Will pushing it now make it even slower later?

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2 Answers

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You really need to follow what the manual says if you want to have any hopes of using a warranty...

OTOH, air cooled engines are usually broken in by running at WOT... Racing motorcycles are usually broken in with WOT runs on a dyno. Small aircraft engine break-in procedures recommend sustained MINIMUM of 75% power (and 85% often recommended).

So, YMMV... I personally follow the manual even if I don't think it's the best way, simply because I wouldn't want to be accused of voiding the warranty by improper usage.

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+1 100% agree with this. Follow the manual every time. 500km isn't far anyway. – Rory Alsop Nov 12 '12 at 14:03
Keep in mind that break-in at one position gives you less drive-ability, but sounds like you'll be pegged the whole time anyways. Try to roll on and off the throttle and let the engine decelerate, but use high rpms if that's what it wants. You aren't going to get 100K mi. out of it anyways :) – Eric Fossum Nov 15 '12 at 0:59
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If you are worried about the rings seating properly the best thing you can do is let it warm up completely under 50% throttle with little or no load, run the engine through variable load and up and down through the throttle range, then let it cool completely. Repeat this cycle several times.

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